


The Dark Will Keep You Safe

by M_E_Scribbles



Series: Clexa Halloween Week 2017 [5]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Clexa Halloween Week 2017, Day 5: Historical AU, Loosely based on the myth of Eros and Psyche, Some Fluff, Sort Of, Soulmates, of a sort, suspend reality people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 15:41:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12560684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_E_Scribbles/pseuds/M_E_Scribbles
Summary: The legend of Clarke's beauty lands her in hot water with the Duchess of Azgeda. In an effort to save her family from ruin, Clarke agrees to marry a stranger, sight unseen. She agrees to never look upon the face of her wife in order to keep herself safe.What happens when curiosity gets the best of her?





	The Dark Will Keep You Safe

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I mean to post these tings on time! But then... work and life!
> 
> I hope you enjoy. And if you don't know the story of Eros and Psyche, I highly recommend giving it a read sometime! It's always been one of my favorites!
> 
> As always, comments, questions, and kudos are welcomed and encouraged! I swear they are food for a writer's soul!

**_1826, Kingdom of Polis_ **

Life had been kind to Clarke Griffin. Born to a teacher and a nurse, she grew up with more education than most girls of her station. Life in Arkadia was difficult. Most citizens scraped by but Jake and Abby Griffin, with their careers and connections wanted for little. And Clarke, she wanted for nothing.

All her life she’d had two best friends. Raven Reyes, the daughter of the local blacksmith, and Octavia Blake, the daughter of an honored knight, had been by her side through most everything. But then the girls married, Raven to Anya, a soldier for a distant noblewoman, and Octavia to Lincoln, a counselor for that same noblewoman. But Clarke… she remained unmarried.

This, of course, made little sense. For throughout the land Clarke Griffin’s beauty was famous. Men and women, everyone, flocked to the small town of Arkadia for every ball and every country-dance just to get a glimpse of her. In fact, her beauty grew so famous, so revered, that even the nobles took notice. They too attended the lowly dances of the working class for a chance to marvel at Clarke. So much so that they began to abandon the parties thrown by Nia, Duchess of Azgeda.

Being ignored was never something Nia enjoyed. She loathed it. She spent much of her time and money on organizing her events and to have them rejected in favor of a Maypole or a ball held in a barn… that would not stand. Her only recourse was to remove Clarke Griffin from her life.

The day finally came when Nia reached the limit of her tolerance. Clarke Griffin had mentioned to a friend she was attending a party being held in Flokru, a city famous for its port and floating houses, on the same day as Nia’s next gathering. Already Nia had received two dozen cancelation letters. Including one from her own daughter, Ontari.

“You sent for me, Aunt?” A voice interrupted Nia’s internal seething.

“Yes,” Nia nodded and lowered herself into the chair behind her desk regally.

Her young niece stood opposite her, her back ramrod straight, hands fisted at her sides, and her hair pulled back and held in place by several small braids. A proud and stoic woman, one who knew what was expected of her. Duty above all.

“How may I be of service?” Her niece asked.

“I need you to help me with a problem. A big, blonde problem,” Nia’s smile grew into a twisted line of malice. “There is a girl, Clarke Griffin, who has taken it upon herself to distract all the people of my lands. I cannot let this stand. She must learn her place. You, my dear, will be the one to take her down a peg or two.”

Arching a brow, her niece responded, “And how will I do that?”

“Well that, my dear, I will leave up to you,” Nia said with a sniff. As if she had time to plan the actual downfall of a young woman she’d never seen. “But it must be soon. I cannot allow her to ruin another soiree.”

“It will be done, Aunt,” the young woman nodded.

With a nod, Nia dismissed her niece. Just before she reached the door, she called out, “Oh, and Lexa?”

“Yes, Aunt?” She turned and stood at attention again.

“I don’t want the girl hurt. Just out of my way,” Nia said.

Nodding, Lexa turned and walked away. She couldn’t help but sigh as she did so. She only had to endure a few more months of her two-year visit to her aunt’s house. A trip her father, the King of Trikru had insisted upon. A few more months and she’d be home. Back among her family and her memories.

****

The night of the Flokru party was more fun than Lexa had anticipated. She’d expected backwater people and annoying buzzing music. Instead, she found brilliant colors and lively jigs.

She allowed herself the enjoyment of one of the local women, just for a few dances, before attempting to complete her mission. She asked around quietly for directions to the famous Clarke Griffin. Most would turn their backs. None wanted to risk their place on Clarke’s dance card to a stranger.

Finally, following an enamored fool named Finn, Lexa was led straight to her. She was hidden away in a small room off the main ballroom. The host of the night was standing guard over her, a protective friend.

Pulling the host aside, Lexa asked Luna for any information she might have. Before Luna could speak, Clarke turned to face the doorway, looking straight past Lexa at a small brunette woman who came barreling in shouting her name.

“That’s the Griffin girl?” Lexa asked.

“The one and only,” Luna nodded.

Swallowing thickly, Lexa tried to come up with a plan. Something to complete the task her aunt had handed her without doing too much damage to the beauty in front of her.

“Smitten?” Luna smirked.

Lexa only offered a one-shoulder shrug. She had no words really. Still, she struggled to find some.

“She likes brunettes,” Luna offered, “I can introduce you.”

“That won’t be necessary. I only wanted to see if she lives up to the rumors,” Lexa sniffed, as if the offer was below her.

Laughing quietly, Luna ran a hand down one of Lexa’s cheeks, “Oh little one, she does so much more.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I came to tell you I’m leaving. I have an early morning tomorrow,” Lexa said, surprising herself with the words leaving her mouth. “Tell no one I was here.”

****

“I’m telling you, Marcus,” Jake Griffin announced as he raised his glass of whiskey to his best friend, “I’m at my wits end! It isn’t that Abby and I want Clarke out of the house. It’s just that Raven has been married for nearly a year. And Octavia almost as long. Who among us ever thought they’d marry before my Clarke?”

Marcus nodded, reaching forward to take Jake’s empty glass. He filled it with water and returned it his outstretched hand, “I understand. I really do. No one is more surprised than I at Clarke’s situation.”

“Abby is beside herself. She’s sure Clarke will end up alone,” Jake sighed.

“Clarke is too good to meet that fate,” Marcus chided. “She will find her way. She always has.”

With a shake of his head, Jake pointed at the man opposite him, “We raised her to be strong. To stand for what is fair and for what is right. Maybe we should have allowed her to be more… demure. More ladylike.”

“Your daughter is too stubborn to fall in line, Jake. We all know that.”

“So what do I do?” Jake asked.

At his question, Marcus began to speak. Then, thinking better of it, he shook his head and closed his mouth. When Jake prodded him to say whatever was on his mind, her spoke slowly, “I have heard of a hermit. One who seeks to marry a bright young woman.”

A long pause followed his strange announcement. Jake merely blinked at his friend. Marcus stared right back.

Then Jake could stand the silence no more, “What does that have to do with Clarke?”

“You wish for Clarke to marry, there’s someone who wishes to marry. It may not be what you want but it could work,” Marcus said carefully.

“And you think the solution to my daughter’s impending spinsterhood is to marry her off to a hermit? One you don’t even know the name of?”

“I know the hermit. Conversations have been held. The hermit is kind and very wealthy,” Marcus responded. “Clarke would be treated well and she would never want for anything ever again.”

****

A week later, Clarke found herself at the top of hill just outside Arkadia. She had overheard her parents discussing her singleness with such despair. Then her father jokingly mentioned the hermit who wanted a wife. He mocked Marcus’s words as he recounted everything his friend had told him.

Abby had laughed too. What a silly idea. Clarke, the great local beauty who had attracted the attention of even the Prince of Polis, marrying a hermit they knew nothing about. They joked and laughed. And then Abby turned a bit more somber. Nia was applying pressure to academy where Jake taught. She knew Jake was Clarke’s father. And everyone knew Nia was not happy about the attention she felt Clarke was stealing from her.

So Clarke thought it over for a few days. She thought about what it would mean for her. Marrying a stranger without her family and friends with her. And she thought about what it would mean for her parents. With her married and hidden away with a hermit, they wouldn’t have to worry over Nia and her power over their lives.

That’s how Clarke found herself on that hilltop. She would bear the burden so the people she loved wouldn’t have to.

She’d been there for hours. The sun was setting. She hadn’t thought to bring any food with her, her stomach grumbling at the lack of sustenance it had received since lunchtime.

By the time the sun was fully set and the moon was rising high over the hill, Clarke was asleep, curled up in her cloak.

****

The first thing Clarke felt upon waking was the absolute blissfulness of the most comfortable bed she’d ever been in. It almost felt like she was floating on a cloud. She felt weightless. The second was the almost sinful pleasure she felt when the satin sheets moved across her lower legs.

With a gasp, Clarke sat up and looked around. The last thing she remembered was sitting on the hilltop waiting for the supposed hermit to appear to marry her. Now she was in a bed with satin sheets sliding over her skin. With another gasp, Clarke looked down. Then she sighed. She was wearing a nightgown. Or rather… a very long shirt. It only appeared to fall to her mid-thighs. Not at all appropriate!

Looking around the room, she spotted the armoire.

Just as she moved to climb out of bed, there was a knock on the door. Swinging her head around, Clarke gaped at the twelve-foot tall doors. It took another series of knocks to bring her out of her shock.

“Yes?” She called out.

“Mistress?” A voice came through the door. “May I enter?”

“Of course,” Clarke replied.

The door opened then and a tall blonde woman entered. She closed the doors behind her and moved to help Clarke out of bed.

“I am Niylah,” she said, a small smile on her face. “I’m your new lady’s maid.”

“I have a maid?” Clarke questioned.

With a nod, Niylah led Clarke to the stool in front of a small vanity. “I am at your service. There are others here too. Four other maids, a dozen footmen, two cooks, a housekeeper, a butler, and a small unit of private soldiers.”

“That’s… um…” Clarke’s mind went blank. “Wow.”

“Indeed. I am here to help you with whatever you need.”

Nodding, Clarke turned to look in the mirror. Then she reached for a brush and ran it through her hair. Niylah intercepted it halfway and began to brush her hair for her. The whole time, Clarke listened as she was told about the house and grounds.

“I’ve been instructed to tell you that you have free reign of the house and grounds. There will be at least two guards with you at all times to keep you safe but you may go wherever you’d like,” Niylah said as she moved toward the armoire. She pulled out a sky blue dress and motioned for Clarke to stand. “Madam has asked me to put you in this dress so you’ll be prepared for your wedding tonight.”

“Tonight?” Clarke choked out.

“Yes Mistress,” Niylah nodded and hummed as she helped Clarke slide the dress on. “When the moon is up. The marriage will be blessed by a holy man and witnessed by myself and Madam’s two closest friends.”

Clarke tried to absorb that. She really did. She thought over Niylah’s words. Then she froze, “Did you say ‘Madam’?”

“I did,” Niylah replied.

“I’m marrying a woman?”

Glancing over Clarke’s shoulder, Niylah tried to read her face. She found nothing of note, “Is that not acceptable to you?”

“I don’t mind… I just never thought…” Clarke tried to explain her reaction. She ended up shrugging instead.

“Ah,” Niylah smiled and nudged her playfully. “Most of us do not. But Madam is a good woman. You’ll want for nothing.”

Looking back at her, Clarke narrowed her eyes at her new maid, “You sound as if you mean more than you say.”

“I do not have first hand knowledge if that is what you’d like to know. I only know what I’ve heard over my years in Madam’s employ,” Niylah shrugged. Then she finished the last of the buttons on the back of the dress and smiled, “She is a good woman. I promise you that much.”

****

Clarke spent that day wandering around. She visited the library last, knowing she’d be sucked in by the books. She settled into a chair, her legs thrown over one armrest while the other supported her back, as she read a small book of poetry.

She hadn’t noticed she fallen asleep until she was shaken awake by Niylah.

“I’ve been sent to fetch you. Madam is waiting in the old chapel for you,” the maid informed her.

“Oh! I must look a mess!” Clarke fretted.

Laughing, Niylah shook her head, “You look as if you’ve been adventuring in your mind. Madam won’t mind.”

And with that, Clarke was taken to the chapel. One of her guards offered an arm and stealthy moved her through the pitch-black room.

“Why is there no candle?” Clarke asked.

A small chuckle met her question. Then calloused hands, like that of a warrior, met hers and gripped tightly, “I am sorry, my dear.”

“Uh… Madam?” Clarke squeaked.

“You may call me Lexa,” the voice answered. Even without any light, Clarke knew the woman was smiling.

“Why are there no candles? I cannot see you,” Clarke asked again.

A small breeze shifted around Clarke, telling her Lexa moved closer. Then a sigh brushed across her face, “I’m sorry. But… for your own safety I cannot let you see me. If you knew who I am, what I’m responsible for, you may be put in danger and I cannot allow that.”

“You want me to be married to a shadow?” Clarke shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

“Ours will be a marriage in all but looks. This is the one thing I ask of you. Trust that I know best. There are people outside these walls who would do you great harm if they knew what you are to me.”

“What I am to you?” Clarke repeated.

A hand ran up her arm and over her shoulder to settle on her face. A thumb brushed over her cheekbone. “My dear, you will mean more to me than any can imagine. I can feel it in my soul. Can’t you feel it?”

At the question, Clarke felt a tug in her heart. Like someone had tied a rope around it and was now pulling at it. She hadn’t experienced it before.

“They say soul mates are rare. But I believe you are mine and I am yours,” Lexa said softly. She stepped closer and pressed a kiss Clarke’s forehead with a precision that had Clarke impressed. “I’d like to marry you now.”

Clarke could only nod. She had no words. She was confused but enlightened at the same time. Nothing and everything made sense. Somehow she knew she’d follow Lexa’s lead. Lexa would get them to their destiny safely. Clarke felt it in her soul.

****

And so they were married. The holy man spoke the ancient vows, Clarke and Lexa repeating them somberly. Then they were led in to a side chamber to sign the papers. Even as the door opened and light filled the chapel, Clarke never saw her new wife. She’d blinked at the sudden appearance of light just as Lexa stepped through the door.

They spent that night in their bedchamber. They talked and laughed and, yes, they made love. Lexa was intelligent and her humor was the kind that made you laugh even while it made you think. Clarke quickly learned to love her new wife.

Lexa’s soft hands greeted her every night when Clarke made her way to their chamber. Lexa’s lips and tongue and fingers edged her into ecstasy over and over again, sometimes until Clarke fell asleep in wanton exhaustion. And Lexa’s sweet taste and soft moans quickly became the basis for Clarke’s dreams. It was a horrible morning whenever Clarke woke up without her wife next to her.

And Clarke never tried to look upon her wife. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to; she just trusted that Lexa knew what she was doing. If Lexa said not seeing her was for the best then Clarke could live with that for now.

They lived in blissful happiness for two months before Lexa mentioned one night that she’d heard Octavia and Raven had been looking for her. At mention of her best friends’ names, Clarke sniffled a little. They’d exchange letters but Clarke had never told them where she was. In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure where she lived now. A grand mansion surrounded by hundreds of acres of gardens and pastures and woods.

“Can they come and visit?” Clarke asked.

The rustling of the pillow next to her head to Clarke her wife was denying her request, “I don’t think that is wise.”

“They won’t do anything wrong. Its just Raven and Octavia. I haven’t seen them in months,” Clarke replied.

“My love, I don’t think they will understand,” Lexa whispered. She knew Clarke missed her friends but she also knew their arrangement was beyond unusual.

Clarke shuffled closer to her wife, pressing her naked skin to Lexa’s, “Please? It will just be them. And perhaps their spouses.”

“How do you know Anya and Lincoln will come with them?”

“I’m sure their employer will allow a visit to friend’s home,” Clarke replied, tilting her head forward and kissing her wife’s skin until she found lips. Nipping at Lexa’s bottom lip, Clarke pulled back, “I just want my friends to see how happy you’ve made me.”

Lexa sighed and kissed her again, “and if they are confused by our life?”

“It isn’t their life. It is mine and it is yours,” Clarke replied.

****

Of course Lexa eventually relented. On their third anniversary, she told Clarke to invite her friends for a visit the following week. She also informed her wife that Anya and Lincoln were in fact able to join because they were technically in Lexa’s employ.

Seven days later, her friends arrive in a grand carriage Lexa had sent for them. They spent two days marveling at the mansion and the grounds before they questioned Clarke about the lack of Lexa’s presence.

With a sigh, Clarke told them of their arrangement. Just as Lexa had foretold, they didn’t understand. How can you be in love with someone you’ve never seen? How can you give yourself to someone you’ve never seen? What if Lexa was hiding something in the darkness?

“She isn’t hiding anything. It’s to keep me safe,” Clarke insisted for the hundredth time.

“Safe from what?” Raven asked.

“Her ugliness?” Octavia added with a snort.

Raven waved a hand at that, not at all concerned about Lexa’s appearance, “Clarke, she could be anyone. Literally anyone. What if she’s already married? What if she’s crazy?”

“And if I saw her I’d be able to tell if she’s crazy?” Clarke scoffed.

“How long will you play along with this?” Octavia asked.

With a shrug, Clarke played with the hem of one of her sleeves, “I haven’t decided. I do plan on bringing it up to her.”

“When?” Raven asked.

“What has Anya told you about her?” Clarke questioned, ignoring Raven. “Or Lincoln?”

Her friends both groaned at that. Neither had been able to get any information from their respective spouses about their employer. Leave it to Clarke to ask about that.

“They’re mysteriously tight-lipped about her,” Raven responded after a moment of hesitation.

Octavia nodded, “Lincoln did say that Lexa is one of her nicknames though.”

“We just don’t understand how you came to agree to live like this,” Raven said. She laid a hand over one of Clarke’s. “You’ve never been one to depend on anyone for anything. And now, just because Lexa says you have to trust her, you’re blindly going along with whatever she wishes?”

****

All that prodding from her friends tempted Clarke too much. Suddenly the urge to see her wife was ever present. It started as a tiny itch in the back of her mind and it grew and grew until it was almost all she could think about.

So one night, she snuck a small candle and a book of matches into their chambers. She really hadn’t planned on using them; she was hoping just the knowledge that she _could_ would be enough. But then Lexa had led her to ecstasy over and over again, forcing Clarke to cry out her name until she was hoarse.

For some reason, those memories, the knowledge that Lexa had surely marked her as much as she’d marked Lexa was all she could think of. And while she’d see the evidence of Lexa’s love on her neck and shoulders and breast and hips and thighs in the morning, she’d never see her love bites on her wife.

The need to see them, to know that Lexa was marked as hers, was overpowering.

So Clarke climbed out of bed and fumbled for the candle. She struck the match and lit the wick. Taking a steadying breath, she turned and faced her wife.

And then she lost all of the oxygen in her body. She could only see Lexa’s back. The sheet was carelessly pulled up to her waist, leaving her back bare. The scratches from Clarke’s nails still deeply red. Lexa’s hair, always so soft and eager to wrap around Clarke’s fingers was an intriguing shade of chestnut. It fell in waves over the pillows.

Unable to stop herself, Clarke circled the bed quickly. She had to see Lexa’s face. As the light fell on Lexa’s body, first her stomach and those firm muscles Clarke adored which were dotted with bruises from Clarke’s lips and teeth, then Lexa’s small breasts, again bearing evidence of Clarke’s passion, up her neck, the bruise there was enough to make Clarke blush a little, and finally, her face.

Clarke gasped. How had she not known her wife was so beautiful? Like an angel fallen from heaven! Perfectly arched brows, a straight nose above bowed lips, high cheekbones that stood out regally, and a sharp jaw that had Clarke nearly drooling with the desire to nip at it. She hadn’t done that nearly enough.

Before Clarke could fully take in her wife’s beauty, a drop of wax fell from the candle and landed on Lexa’s side, just under her ribcage. She woke with a gasp, her hand flying to the area that stung.

Her eyes blinked rapidly as they adjusted to the light of the small candle.

“Clarke,” She nearly sobbed.

She was out of the bed before Clarke could respond, throwing on a robe. She was hurrying around the bedchamber, gathering things while Clarke caught glimpses of her on the edge of the light.

“Lexa?” Clarke called out when the shuffling stopped.

Stepping forward, Lexa met her eyes. For the first time, Clarke’s ocean blue eyes got to study the forest green eyes of her wife. It was a feeling she wanted to remember forever.

“I asked one thing of you. Just one,” Lexa bit out. Those green eyes hardened, “It wasn’t a forever request, Clarke. It was just until I knew we’d be safe. And now you’ve ruined it.”

“What? I haven’t ruined anything!” Clarke replied quickly. “No one needs to know I saw you.”

Shaking her head, Lexa cupped Clarke’s face with her hands, “You have, love. I asked for your trust. I’ve given you mine. And you’ve betrayed that with this little candle.”

With one kiss, Lexa moved away quickly. Clarke followed her, trying to understand what exactly was going on. When Lexa grabbed a small bag and headed toward the door, Clarke began to understand but she didn’t believe it.

“Lexa?” She called out, stopping in her tracks.

“I’m sorry,” Lexa said, her head hanging and shoulders drooped. “I can’t stay where there is no trust. Forgive me, my love.”

And then she was gone.

****

Lexa rode through the night with three of her soldiers. She arrived on her aunt’s doorstep as the sun was reaching its zenith. She told Nia all about her troubles, insisting Clarke was no longer a burden on her aunt.

Nia listened and comforted as best she could. All the while plotting her revenge.

****

Clarke waited three days before she began to worry. None of the servants seemed to care that Lexa was gone. Niylah wouldn’t take about her. Hadn’t mentioned ‘Madam’ in all that time.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. She had to find Lexa. She went to Flokru, to visit Luna who had an ear to the ground and always seemed to know what was happening everywhere. She claimed to have no knowledge of Lexa or her whereabouts. The same with Marcus Kane. And so on and so on until Clarke ran out of ideas.

As a last ditch effort, Clarke paid a visit to the Duchess of Azgeda. There was no way someone as wealthy as Lexa could live so close and go unnoticed by Nia. Perhaps Nia would know where Clarke could find her wife.

“So you lost your wife and thought I’d be able to find her?” Nia laughed.

“I thought you’d be able to point me in the right direction to find her myself,” Clarke replied, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes on the beautiful carpet under her feet.

Nia scoffed at that. Flattery. Or almost flattery. She wouldn’t buy into it. Sure, she could see how beautiful Clarke Griffin was but she wasn’t going to fall in line with all her other admirers and give her whatever she wanted.

“Please,” Clarke sniffled, her lips quivering, “I just want to talk to my wife.”

“Perhaps you should have followed her edict then,” Nia laughed again, this time with an edge to it.

Clarke took a bracing breath before she nodded, “I apologize for wasting our time, Your Grace. I’ll see myself out now.”

“Where are you going?” Nia snapped. When Clarke froze half way out of her chair, Nia chuckled. “I didn’t say I don’t know where she is. I asked why I should help you.”

“I can’t give you a good reason,” Clarke sank back into the chair. At last, she had a sliver of hope returning.

Snorting out a laugh, Nia stood. She ordered Clarke to follow her. After too many turns to count, Nia stopped in front of a door and smiled at the young woman. “I know where your wife is. And I’ll tell you. But first, I will test your determination.”

Opening the door, Nia waved an arm, telling Clarke to step inside. What she found made her gasp. The room was filled with tangled up strands of colorful yarn.

“What is this?” Clarke asked.

“If you want me to tell you where your beloved Lexa is, you’ll have this all untangled and rolled up neatly by sunrise tomorrow. And no cutting any of it!” Nia told her, an evil smirk bowing her lips. She patted Clarke’s shoulder and continued, “I shall be back after I break my fast.”

With that, she closed the door.

Clarke stared at the yarn. It came up to the middle of her thighs. And took up nearly half the room. There was no way she’d be able to complete the task. She allowed herself a couple of sobs before she took a deep breath and got to work.

Of course, the calming effect of that only lasted for so long. Soon she was crying as she tried to untangle the yarn. Then she was sobbing, her eyes so full of tears the colors in her hands were running together. She was about to take a break, to get herself cried out so she could clear her eyes, when the door opened. Turning around, she saw Niylah and a half dozen of Nia’s maids had joined her.

“We thought you could use some help?” Niylah said as she rolled up her sleeves.

Surprisingly, they finished the task before Nia even had supper that night. Clarke asked one of the maids to fetch the older woman. The fury in those icy blue eyes was unmistakable.

“You had help. I’ll tell you nothing now,” Nia sniffed and turned around. “If you want your information, you’ll sleep here tonight. I’ll have the maids bring you supper.”

And then she was gone again.

Supper ended up being a small cup of water and a piece of bread. Not that Clarke minded. She was angry with the duchess for not following though on her promise. She ate her measly dinner and made herself a bed of yarn.

****

Of course Nia finds a reason to deny Clarke in the morning. She insisted Clarke owed her another favor since she’d slept on Nia’s yarn without permission. Even the near-headache inducing eye roll from Clarke wasn’t enough to stop Nia.

“My daughter, Ontari, borrowed a golden cloak last year and has refused to give it back. If you want to know Lexa’s whereabouts, you’ll go to her house and get it back by any means necessary,” Nia instructed, her smirk firmly in place. She knew for a fact that Ontari kept that cloak in a special closet that was nearly impossible to get to.

“You want me to steal your cloak back from your own daughter?” Clarke asked, needing clarification.

With a tsk, Nia ignored her question and sent her away.

And that was how, the next day, Clarke found herself hiding in the Duchess of Trishanakru’s garden. She was bent in half, panting and pressing a hand into the cramp in her side. Those guards were must faster than she’d anticipated. Of course, most of them were wearing pants and she was in a full skirt, but still…

“Can I help you?” A voice asked from next to Clarke.

Straightening quickly, she nearly head-butted the man. She took a step back, nearly toppling into the hedge, “Sorry!”

“Why are you panting?” He asked.

“I was out for a nice walk,” Clarke replied, trying even harder to control her breathing.

“Are you the reason my wife has the guard’s on high alert?” He smiled then.

Blanching, Clarke shook her head, “Of course not. Out for a walk. No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe if you tell me what you’re looking for, I can help you,” he said. He offered a hand then, “My name is Ilian.”

“You’re the Duke of Trishanakru,” Clarke’s eyes widened as she shook his hand.

Ilian nodded and grinned, “Now that you know who I am, can I ask again what you’re looking for?”

Clarke hesitated for barely a moment before she told him about her task. He laughed and assured her he could help. He led her to the gazebo and left her with a promise of a swift return. And when he came back, he wasn’t alone.

“My mother sent you here to steal this?” Ontari giggled as she handed the cloak to Clarke.

“Yes.”

“Why? She gave it to me last week. She said it looked better on me,” Ontari explained. She laughed again, “Oh well. Ilian didn’t like it on me anyway. I just wish you’d have asked. I’m sorry about the guards.”

With a shake of her head, Clarke replied, “I think she’s trying to prove something to me. Or maybe to someone else. I’m not sure.”

“Well,” Ilian said, “Whatever she’s doing. You just worry about working smarter, not harder. Nia won’t give you all the information when she talks to you. Only the bare minimum.”

“Yes… I’m starting to see that,” Clarke replied. “I just want to see my wife again.”

Ontari’s jaw dropped, “are you Lexa’s wife?”

“Yes!” Clarke nodded rapidly.

“You’re doing this just to find Lexa?” Ontari asked.

Clarke smiled and nodded again, “I am.”

“Oh my… Mother will make you work for that!” Ontari warned.

****

Nia insisted she found a small tear in the hem of the cloak just seconds after Clarke gave it to her. The proclamation nearly brought tears to Clarke’s eyes. There was no tear. She knew that. She and Niylah had both checked the cloak over twice!

“I do have one more favor to ask of you, if you’re still interested in finding you wife,” Nia informed her.

“Anything,” Clarke begged, “please!”

Pulling out a map, Nia pointed to a small island in the middle of a nearby river. It was a four-day journey, there and back. On that island lived a healer, one Nia trusted with her life. He had been making medicine for her for years. If Clarke went to Nyko and retrieved her next month’s worth of medicine, Nia swore she’d tell Clarke where Lexa was hiding.

And so two days later, Clarke found herself staring at the small island. And then she was cursing. The island was surrounded by rapids. There was no way she could get to it. She looked back at the guards Lexa had assigned to her. They wouldn’t make it either.

Then Ilian’s words came to her. Work smarter not hard.

She remembered Ryder’s precision with his bow. She instructed him to shoot a few arrows at the door. He hit nearly dead center each time. He was just nocking his fourth when the door opened slowly.

The burly man who left the house was not what Clarke was expecting. He smiled and waved before he pulled the arrows from his door. Then he pulled on a piece of rope hanging from a tree. The more he pulled, the more Clarke grew confused.

Then he smiled and pointed at the rapids. As Clarke watched, a bridge slowly floated up from the depths of the river. She laughed and clapped. What an ingenious idea!

She met Nyko halfway across the bridge. He already had Nia’s medicine with him He’d been about to make his monthly journey. If Clarke had appeared even an hour later, she’d have missed him and she’d have to wait a week to see him.

In her excitement to finally find Lexa, Clarke made the two-day journey back to Nia’s mansion in a day and a half. She proudly presented the vials to Nia, smirking at the shocked look on her face. So the older woman had known Nyko was likely to be absent when Clarke arrived, she had suspected as much.

“Will you tell me where Lexa is now?” Clarke asked gently.

“No,” Nia shook her head. “There’s some missing. I suspect one of your goons took a drink, hoping to find spirits.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Clarke tried to speak as calmly as possible, “I have completed three tasks you thought would be impossible. Each time you find something arbitrarily wrong with my work. I cannot keep completing these favors for you if I gain nothing in return.”

“One more favor, one more task,” Nia replied, her voice sliding across Clarke’s skin like oil. “Then, upon your success, I will tell you where Lexa is.”

“How can I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Ontari will know Lexa’s location soon,” Nia said with a shrug.

Clarke arched a brow, “So I can just wait and ask her?”

“You could try. But as much as my daughter and her husband enjoy messing with me, they’d never actually go against me,” Nia said.

“Why do you hate me?” Clarke questioned. It was the only reason she could come up with for Nia’s behavior toward her. “What have I ever done to you?”

“You exist,” Nia spat. She narrowed her eyes and hissed, “You think you belong in my world. Taking glory and attention for those who actually deserve it! No more I say!”

Barely holding back a bark of laughter, Clarke responded, “You think I’d rather have attention than my wife back by my side? If I could give you all the glory and fame my so-called beauty has given me, I’d do it in less than a heartbeat if it meant I get to be with Lexa again!”

“Do this one favor and you shall find your precious wife!”

****

“You need a what now?” Wells, Crown Prince of Polis, asked.

“I don’t know. She said she left a snuffbox here,” Clarke sighed.

“A snuffbox?” Wells repeated.

Nodding, Clarke pulled out the drawing Nia had forced her to complete, “Her family crest is on it. It apparently has a lot of sentimental value.”

“The Duchess of Azgeda hasn’t been here in years,” Wells laughed. “How important can it be to her?”

“Oh, it isn’t actually important to her. The only thing she cares about right now is messing with me,” Clarke said. “What are the chances we can find this thing?”

The door behind Wells opened, Niylah stepping through with a smile on her face. She held up the snuffbox, “Found it!”

“Where?” Clarke gasped, holding out her hand for it.

“Your Highness,” Niylah curtsied for Wells.

Smiling, Wells asked her to stand. Niylah handed him the box, which he studied quickly before handing it over to Clarke.

“Well then,” Wells said with a smile, “I guess you’ll be on your way then. It was lovely to see the Beauty of Arkadia again!”

Taking their leave, Niylah and Clarke hurried back to their carriage. They were on their way back to Nia’s mansion within an hour of arriving. While they rode down the road, Niylah explained her discussion with the maids and housekeepers about Clarke and her quest to reunite with her wife.

After thanking her maid profusely, Clarke studied the snuffbox. It was actually rather ugly. The crest was unevenly etched into the gold; the latch was hardly able to fasten.

As so often happened, Clarke’s curiosity got the best of her. She opened the box just as the carriage hit a bump in the road. As she inhaled, some of the powder inside the snuffbox made its way to her nose. She sneezed once, then again, before closing the box and glancing at Niylah.

That was the last thing she remembered.

****

Clarke slapped at the foul smell under her nose. Then she swatted twice more. Whatever it was just wouldn’t go away.

She opened her eyes to look around. She gasped at the sight before her.

“Lexa?”

“Hello, my love,” Lexa smiled down at her. “Did you enjoy your nap?”

Clarke’s mouth opened and closed, she wanted to say something. Anything really, but she had somehow forgotten every word she’d every learned.

“I’ve heard you’ve been going on adventures without me,” Lexa teased as she helped Clarke sit up.

“Where? How? What?”

“I was visiting my aunt,” Lexa replied, jerking her head toward Nia.

The older woman smirked at Clarke. She positively beamed satisfaction.

“You were here the whole time?” Clarke demanded. “And what do you mean your aunt?”

“What?” Lexa’s brows came together.

“I’ve been doing favors for the duchess for weeks!”

Glancing back at her aunt, Lexa met Clarke’s eye again, “I didn’t know. What do you mean favors?”

Pulling Lexa into the carriage and telling the driver to head home, Clarke explained what had been happening. She told her about visiting Luna and Marcus, about the yarn, the cloak, the medicine, and the snuffbox, all of it. She knew Lexa wanted to laugh. She also knew Lexa wanted to turn the carriage around and strangle her aunt.

After the tale was told, Lexa told the driver to head to the king’s castle.

“Why?” Clarke asked.

Instead of answering, Lexa wrapped her arms around her wife and held her close. She didn’t relax until she felt Clarke return the embrace. She only pulled back enough to kiss her gently.

“Lexa?” Clarke spoke against her lips.

“We’re going to talk to the king.”

“I know,” Clarke tilted her head back, laughing a little when Lexa’s lips chased hers. “Why?”

Trying to pull her wife back in for a better kiss, Lexa sighed when she resisted, “Because I love you and I want to marry you in a church in the middle of the day so I can see your beautiful face. And the easiest way to do that is to have the king make you a noblewoman.”

“We’re already married,” Clarke replied, nuzzling Lexa’s neck.

“Yes, we are,” Lexa nodded. Then she tipped Clarke’s head back enough to kiss her again. “I just think my father will enjoy a full state wedding a whole lot more than hearing the story of our beginnings.”

Blinking up at her, Clarke repeated, “State wedding? Why?”

“Well…” Lexa cleared her throat and dropped her eyes to Clarke’s collarbone. “Usually when the heir to the throne gets married, they have to have their sovereign’s permission. And then there has to be a big state wedding.”

“So you wanted to keep me a secret?” Clarke asked.

“No! Of course not!” Lexa hurried to reassure her. “I just wanted you safe. If my father’s enemies found out about you… I didn’t have the men to keep you safe.”

Narrowing her eyes, Clarke questioned, “And now?”

“Now I’m expected home within the month,” Lexa grinned at her. “I have five hundred soldiers waiting to escort me home. That’ll be a fitting greeting for my father won’t it? Two daughters coming home instead of one?”

****

Even after spending their lives together, Clarke Griffin could hardly believe her own love story. She’d married a stranger upon promising to never look at her, fallen in love with her wife in the dark, nearly ruined it all with her curiosity, and, after all that, she’d been made a countess in her own right before marrying her Princess all over again.

Theirs was a true story of soul mates. Perhaps some didn’t believe in them. But any who met Queen Alexandria I and her beloved Queen Clarke couldn’t help but see the truth.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to drop me a line here or on [Tumblr](https://imaginaryhistorianme.tumblr.com/)
> 
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> Again! Comments, questions, and kudos are welcomed and encouraged! I swear they are food for a writer's soul!


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